


Backstories

by skyblue_reverie



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Custody Battle, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, McCoy's Anger Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:40:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22106467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyblue_reverie/pseuds/skyblue_reverie
Summary: Two drabbles about Uhura's and Kirk's backstories, respectively, and a longer (805 word) piece about McCoy's.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 7





	Backstories

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Star Trek Challenge Comm at [](https://starfleet-hq.dreamwidth.org/profile)[](https://starfleet-hq.dreamwidth.org/)**starfleet_hq**. Come join us!

**Nyota Uhura:**

Her name meant “stars,” so some people said it was inevitable that she’d end up living among them. Not her, though. She didn’t believe in destiny. But, as she entered her newly-assigned dorm room at Starfleet Academy, she had to admit there was a certain appropriateness to how it had turned out. It wasn’t that she was particularly fascinated by the stars, or space, or planets or any of that. No, _people_ were what interested her. People of any species. And now she was going to get to meet new people, learn new languages and new cultures. She couldn’t wait.

**James Kirk:**

He’d been born in the stars, so some people said it was inevitable that he’d end up living among them. He thought that was stupid. What had the stars done except steal both parents from him, one in a blaze of glory and one in the numbness of loss and duty and avoidance of the son she could barely stand to look at? But then Pike had come along with his dare, and as Jim walked into his new dorm room at Starfleet Academy, he couldn’t help but think that maybe there was something to this destiny crap after all. 

**Leonard McCoy:**

“The court orders as follows: sole custody of minor child Joanna McCoy to petitioner Jocelyn Darnell. Respondent Leonard McCoy shall have vidcomm visitation only, each Saturday from three to four p.m. No in-person visitation at this time. Case dismissed.”

Leonard barely processed the words, still clouded by the numbness that had descended upon him months ago, when this nightmare had first begun. As the judge’s words penetrated his consciousness, he jumped up from his seat and opened his mouth to protest, but the clerk was already calling the next case number and his lawyer was pulling him by the elbow, moving him away from the front of the courtroom, through the swinging gate to the gallery aisle. He allowed himself to be pulled out of the courtroom, into the hallway, before yanking his arm free and rounding on his lawyer.

“Comm only? No in-person visits? You told me that was almost never done!” Leonard hissed the words, though he wanted to yell at the top of his lungs.

His lawyer merely looked at him, calm and with a hint of pity. “It _is_ rare,” she acknowledged. “But your showing up to most of the mediation sessions and hearings drunk certainly didn’t help your case. The shouting and other disorderly behavior made it even worse. Look, you need to pull yourself together before you can even have a hope of getting in-person visitation. You need to be able to show the court that you’ve gotten counseling, that you’ve got the drinking and anger issues under control. After six months, we can file an Order to Show Cause and try to get the order revised.”

He stared back at her, aghast. Six months? In the life of a young child, that might as well be forever. He could feel his breathing get shallow, his heart racing, and he needed a drink. Right now. He forced himself to focus.

“But I never drink when I’m in charge of Joanna. And I would never yell at her or take my anger out on her,” he protested, though he knew it was useless. 

“Maybe not, but in the eyes of the court it’s a risk that they aren’t willing to take. Put yourself in that position. If Jocelyn got a boyfriend who drank far too much and had seemingly out-of-control anger issues, even if not directed at Joanna, would you want him around your child?”

Leonard felt like he’d had a bucket of cold water dumped on his head. He knew the answer, even if he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. No, he wouldn’t want someone like that around his child. If Jocelyn had wanted to leave Joanna in the care of someone who behaved the way he himself had been behaving since his father’s death, he would never have allowed it, given any say in the matter. He swallowed against a sudden urge to vomit right there in the hallway. 

He turned and stumbled away from the lawyer, barely registering her final words to him. “Get your life together. Then you can re-apply for custody. In six months.”

Get his life together? How the hell was he supposed to do that? He’d lost his job, had no hope of getting a new one anytime soon given the reputation for nearly constant drunkenness he’d gained for himself over the last several months. And here, in the town where his father had lived and died, where everything he saw reminded him of the past, he’d never be able to get it together. No, he needed a break from everything familiar. A clean start. Then, maybe, just maybe, he could turn things around. 

As he trudged down the courtroom steps, he looked up and saw something he’d never noticed before. A somewhat dingy storefront, among all the other dingy storefronts in the tacky strip mall opposite the courthouse. Starfleet Career Center. He snorted to himself. “Career Center” indeed. More like a recruitment center using high-pressure sales tactics to get you to condemn yourself to a life of control and regimentation. Although… regimentation maybe wasn’t a bad idea right now. Or even handing over control to someone else for a while. God knew he’d been doing a shitty job of controlling himself these past months; maybe he needed someone else riding herd on his ass for a while.

Before he could talk himself out of it or even think too much about it, Leonard walked across the street, up to the storefront displaying posters of model-perfect young people smiling proudly while wearing Starfleet uniforms. He yanked open the door and walked inside. Looking at the bored, balding man behind the counter, who was wearing a Starfleet uniform but in no other way resembled those shining youths from the posters, he forced himself to speak firmly. “I want to join up.”


End file.
